Protecting labour. Carrie Hall and the master and servant act

Abstract

On 21 April 1891, a domestic servant named Carrie Hall appeared before two Perth magistrates charged under the Master and Servants Act with deserting her master's service. Her 'master' or employer was Richard Septimus Haynes - lawyer, Perth City Councillor, political radical and co-founder with John Horgan of Western Australia's Eight Hours Association} Haynes had taken Hall and a fellow servant, Kate Brown, before the Perth Police Court on similar charges; but whereas Kate Brown was discharged with a caution, Hall received a fine or one month in Fremantle Gaol in default. The wages which Haynes had offered Hall were